Tikkun Olam

They call themselves an "International" group, although the names are Israeli and so is their phone number (and I detect a definite accent to some of their English). My intrepid research staff in London (yes, the infamous M ) sent me this . Leave it to Yidden , if they can't debate you to death, they'll sing you onto the floor while you're laughing hysterically and peeing in your pants. And they're not even paying me to post this. Heck, I'm not even waiting for their reply to my email--just watch the video (Simon Cowell, eat your heart out):

I'm also on a diet. I am half-heartedly trying to lose x number of pounds (kilos, for my Israeli friends and family. Actually, my weight sounds a lot better in kilos. . . ). I say "half-heartedly," not because my heart isn't in it--it is--but rather because ( על חטא שחטאתי לפניך ...) I enjoy food. And also eating it. I'm not a gourmet, but probably (alas) more of a. . . gourmand . I said it. And now the whole world knows (or, only that tiny little portion who reads this blog; not so bad, really. . . ) And to my utter dismay, just when I am finally back down to where I was just before Pesach , of all things-- Shavuot has to come up. All of a sudden! You'd think that I'd be prepared, I've been counting the Omer so diligently since Pesach-yes, with a bracha (-eat yer hearts out) But I'm not. I am not prepared to pass over (heh heh, 'pass over,' get it?) cheese cake and spinach cheese quiche and milchig noodle kugel and ice cream with ...

To listen to President Obama speak about the Middle East, you'd think he was the fairest, most intelligent, reasonable leader the United States has had in a long time. All he wants is peace between the Jewish state and the Arab states, and in a civilized world, civilized man reasons intellectually with his fellow man rather than resorts to primitive actions such as physical violence. It sounds good, really it does. That is what one would expect from an intelligent, reasonable man or woman. I think he's forgotten one minor thing, though: reasoning has a smidgen of a chance of working only if both sides use reasoning towards conflict resolution . The so-called Palestinians don't. So at the first meeting between President Obama and Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu in Washington D.C., there was a slight difference of opinion: Bama thinks Israel should stop the Judaisizing of the "occupied territories" (read: Yehudah & Shomron=Judea and Samaria) by stopping and dis...

(I think I'm forgetting how to blog.) The Downturn In The Economy finally came home to roost in the last week of April: my husband was laid off from his job. In the interim between then and now, we have been making calculations and trying to configure what we will need in order to stay where we are, i.e., have a roof over our heads and food on the table (forget clothing; we wear twenty-year-old stuff anyway). Meanwhile, hubby is applying for jobs all over, not only here where we currently live, but wherever there is anything remotely related to his expertise and experience. In this economy, and at our stage in life, we have to retool ourselves and adapt to a changing world. The internet (as much as I love it) has impacted the information-disseminating professions, specifically--newspapers--in a profound, and negative way. The revenue models are changing, with the advent of "it's on the internet, it's FREE." Anyone can anonymously spout what is purportedly calle...